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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24863686">And Again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaceofMer/pseuds/janto321'>janto321 (FaceofMer)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ACD Fics [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sherlock Holmes &amp; Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Anal Sex, Anonymous Sex, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Post-Coital Cuddling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:48:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24863686</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaceofMer/pseuds/janto321</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Holmes and Watson had a chance meeting before.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sherlock Holmes/John Watson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ACD Fics [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1368016</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>107</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Chapter 1 is conversation and cuddling, chapter 2 is smut</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>I lay with Holmes in my arms, dozing lightly. We'd enjoyed congress not long before and I was still enjoying the warm afterglow. Holmes was awake, I could tell by his breathing and the way his fingers occasionally traced along my skin. I was content in the way only he could make me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Watson," he said, stirring me to full wakefulness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes?" I said, running my fingers through his hair. Something was weighing on him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was quiet for a moment, clearly trying to think of the right words. I frowned slightly, tilting his chin up to kiss him. "Whatever it is, speak plainly."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He gave me a gentle, soft smile. "I suppose it makes no matter."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"If something is bothering you, I do want to know," I said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Mm, my good, solid Watson," Holmes said, laying his head again on my chest and hiding his gaze from me. "What would you say if I told you that we met before?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Before?" I asked. "You mean before I came here?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I do," he said. "Do you recall February 6th, 1880?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>1880 I certainly remembered as that was the year of the great battle, the year a bullet changed the course of my life and brought me into the orbit of the greatest man I'd ever known. February was just before I shipped out and... </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"There was a party," I said. "A.... gentleman's party. An old school mate brought me along as a last hurrah before I shipped out."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Everyone wore masks," said Holmes. "After some drinking and dancing, there were... other activities."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes," I said, heart skipping in my chest as I remembered. I tilted his head back up again and searched his eyes, remembering sparkling gray eyes I'd barely given thought to since meeting Holmes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Holmes leaned in and kissed me gently. I kissed him back, holding him close. "How long have you known?" I asked, careful not to phrase it like an accusation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I've suspected for a little while. Something about you felt familiar the first time we gave in to passion. But I thought that if our paths had crossed surely I would have remembered."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"But we'd been drinking," I said. "And when everyone paired off, I took you into a darkened room. I took my pleasure, made sure you had yours, but I never saw your face."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Holmes shifted to lay on top of me. My cock stirred with interest, despite our recent activity. I kissed him again, letting myself remember that particular night, the pleasure and then the vague guilty at leaving my partner sleeping as I slipped out. I remembered thinking of him on occasion before my dreams were overwhelmed by war and violence. And then Holmes had come into my life and a night's dalliance with a stranger had meant nothing in the face of all of this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Perhaps the fates were kind," I said, "bringing us together again."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'd known you were a soldier," said Holmes. "But I took no effort to learn more. You weren't my first assignation, but you were my last."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It's true for me as well," I said. "I do love you," I said. I rarely spoke such words aloud, but that made them no less true.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Holmes kissed my palm. "And I, you. It does not matter, I suppose, nor change anything, but it has been weighing on my mind."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You were uncertain how I'd react," I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Well, it would be rather hypocritical of me to be upset that you were at such a party. It is something that occurred in our past. Perhaps a brief preview of this life that we've built together. I'm not going anywhere."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Holmes kissed me once more, then lay on my chest, tucking his head against my throat. I returned to running fingers through his hair, feeling him relax and start to drift off towards sleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was strange to think we might have met once before, found refuge in the dark for a few moments of pleasure. But nothing would change our feelings for one another. He was my greatest treasure. This was nothing more than another twist in the road that had led us, unerringly to this place, to him falling asleep in my arms in the safety of our room. The two of us moving through life as one.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>As I drifted off toward sleep I allowed myself to remember. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The weather had been chill when my schoolmate and I arrived at the house, getting out the cab a few blocks away before making our way over, slipping on masks before my we stepped into the back door.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The room we were shown into was full of men, most of them near to my age. Alcohol was already flowing freely. A man in the corner was playing something on the violin and others mingled or danced close.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I didn't speak as I wandered through the crowd, sipping my first drink of the evening. I was a bit uncertain about my presence. Most of these men were of a higher station than me, but my schoolmate had assured me that I'd be welcome anyway. There were few spaces we could be free to be ourselves and conventional restrictions had no place here.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I had my glass quickly refreshed by a servant. Some of the other men were pairing off and moving towards quieter corners, though there was one young man enthusiastically kissing another in a corner of the parlor for all to see.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As I looked away from them, I saw a gentleman standing near the violin player, listening to him and sipping his own drink. He was slender and even through the mask I could see that he was handsome. He must have felt my eyes on him because he looked up and met my gaze.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Something sparked through me, a connection I had rarely felt. I stood and made my way across the room to him. I knew why I was here and clearly he'd come for the same reason. He gave me a smile as I reached him, finishing his drink and setting it aside.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I reached out for his hand. He stepped into my arms and we did a slow dance around the room. There was no need to speak and as we reached the door of the parlor I inclined my head towards the stairs.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He nodded and I took his hand, warm in mine as we headed up the stairs, not the only couple seeking a bit of solitude. In fact, another couple stepped out of a room, laughing together, and leaving the door open for us.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The room was dark, but I made no attempt to create light, closing the door behind us and pulling him close for a kiss. He moaned softly, and we undressed one another through hungry kisses. It seemed he was as starved for the touch of another as I was.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I lay him on the bed, finding an open bottle of oil on the bedside table. I kissed him again, pressing fingers into him. He groaned and arched up against my touch, clearly wanting whatever I was willing to give.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I kissed him again and settled between his thighs, slicking myself before pressing in. He kissed me back with enthusiasm, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I thrust deep, reveling in the feeling of his body. He moved with me; a far more intimate dance than the one we'd shared downstairs.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It had been so long that I feared I would find release all too soon. I pulled out and rolled him onto hands and knees, thrusting in again as I gripped his hips. He groaned into the pillow, seemingly content to be the vessel of my pleasure.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With only a few more thrusts I was undone, folding over his back and breathing heavily against his skin. As soon as I began to regain my wits I took him in hand. He shivered beneath me, moaning softly as I brought him to his own climax.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I tilted us to the side, kissing the nape of his neck. We lay together for a few long moments. He kissed my knuckles, then let go. I reluctantly pulled out, feeling him start to drift off to sleep.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I knew I needed to get back to my unit before dawn. I dressed in the dark, as quietly as I could, covering him with the blankets and kissing his temple before making my way out and closing the door behind me...</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, all this time later, I had him in my arms again, and what was more, we held each other in our hearts. The world so rarely gave second chances. I was glad that the tides had brought him again to me.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Much thanks to lmirandas for reading and to  beltainefaerie for the beta. You can find me mostly on twitter these days at merindab</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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